Nexus 7 up for pre-order in Taiwan, to start selling by mid-September

It may come as a bit of a shocker for some, but Google’s highly successful Nexus 7 tablet is still not available in Asia. This is even more surprising if we take into consideration that the 7-incher is co-branded by Asus, whose headquarters are in Taiwan.

Now things are about to change for those of you who live in Taiwan and crave a Nexus 7, although the rest of Asia might again be left out of the mix. All three major Taiwanese wireless carriers, as well as a bunch of electronics retail stores, have started taking pre-orders for the 7-incher and will ship the tab in a matter of weeks.

Chungwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, and Far EasTone Telecommunications have started teasing the Nexus 7 Taiwanese launch, although none of the three carriers has announced an exact release date just yet.

The 16 GB model is the only one offered for pre-order at this time and we don’t know if the 8 GB version will go up for grabs anytime soon. We’re guessing it won’t though, following Google’s marketing strategy in Europe and US. As you might have already noticed, the 8 and 16GB versions of the tabs are available for sale via Google Play, while retailers and carriers are only selling the second variant.

Unsurprisingly, as far as pricing goes, the Taiwanese Nexus 7 is considerably more expensive than its US counterpart. The 16 GB version goes for TW $8,990, which would translate into around $300 at today’s conversion rates. Then again, this is slightly cheaper than what Google is charging for the Nexus 7 in France, Germany or Spain, where the 16GB Nexus 7 currently goes for €249 (around $312).

You also get a set of free headphones and free shipping (at least from Taiwan Mobile), so all in all, this sounds like a pretty decent deal. Taiwan Mobile is hinting at a September 12 shipping kick-off on its official website, although this might not be 100% accurate. Still, that’s the most probable ETA for Taiwan’s Nexus 7, give or take a couple of days.

The Nexus 7 is expected to go out in Hong Kong next, according to an unconfirmed report from last week, while the rest of Asia, including big markets like India, China and Japan, is still left pining. But all hope is not lost for those waiting for the tab in those countries, so stay tuned for updates on the subject.

We’re also pretty excited about the possible release of a 3G-enabled version of the Nexus 7, so it seems that the 7-incher’s legend will go on for quite some time. Who hasn’t jumped on the Nexus 7 bandwagon yet? Why and what are you waiting for?